Street Fighter II Casting Call, Part 1: Which actor would you cast as Blanka?

We recently discussed who we would cast if they did another Street Fighter II movie in The MFF Podcast #32: Street Fighter Casting Call. Our picks were all over the place and I just wanted to share some of my personal favorite picks…

Beastly framed and 6’5” (various stats can be found on different websites), Blanka poses a significant casting problem if ever someone were to do Street Fighter any justice. Do you go pure CGI a la Hulk or just go with Carrot Top?

Or do you use a live action actor? Moreover, do you use a little artistic license and change the size of an otherwise iconic character for the sake of an actor preference. Such was the case in casting Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) as Bane, despite the fact that Bane was literally more than twice his size.

It would have made far more sense to cast someone like Nathan Jones (Troy, Mad Max: Fury Road) at 6’11” and nearly 400 lbs for the role of Bane. But maybe he’s, in fact, too tall and not proportionally stout enough for roles like Bane or the Brazilian beast Blanka, even if he plays ferocious charcters fantastically.

Speaking of which, is it me, or might Tom Hardy be just feral enough to play a “smaller” Blanka? Perhaps…but he’s just way too small even if he got back into Bane or Warrior shape—when he weighed a smidge over 200 pounds. Then again, Blanka–and many other characters–seem to have gotten significantly larger, taller and deeper into steroid use after 1991’s Street Fighter II. So if we were going with 1991 Blanka, perhaps Hardy would be an excellent fit! After all, he communicated almost entirely with grunts and facial expressions in Lawless (2012) and Fury Road (2015).

Andy Serkis–best known for his monstrous roles as Gollum, Caesar and King Kong–is often a favorite for full CGI roles. If that were the case, Blanka’s appearance easily falls into the hands of the CGI artists. That’s fun and all, but I’d rather a real person present the likeness of Blanka, even if it were CGI-modified to up his size or appearance.

Above all, I’d personally love to see John Cena in the role! Sure, he’s only 5’9”. But at 255 lbs he actually has body dimensions that fit the primal Blanka’s surprisingly well.

Remember seeing him basically naked in Trainwreck (2015)? Yeah, the dude is inhumanly thick. Best of all is that with Cena’s size, he’d offer a plausible match to much larger opponents.

I guess those are my picks…Andy Serkis for pure CGI Blanka, Tom Hardy for a more “human-sized” Blanka, Carrot Top as a cruel joke, and John Cena for the best-in-show and build.  The only reason I don’t spout of Nathan Jones again is because he’s my “huge built guy” I’d turn to for numerous other roles like Sagat or Zangief.

Who would you choose for Blanka?

COMMENT BELOW AND LET US KNOW